Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Chicago Bulls sign Tristan Thompson, waive Alfonzo McKinnie

The Chicago Bulls have signed veteran big man Tristan Thompson.

Also today, the team released forward Alfonzo McKinnie.

In his eleventh season in the NBA, Thompson (6-9, 254 pounds) owns career averages of 9.1 ppg (.518 from the field), 8.5 rpg (3.3 orpg) and 1.0 apg in 27.1 mpg. For his career, he has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers. This season, he has appeared in 34 games (three starts) with the Kings and Pacers, and has tallied 6.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg (2.3 orpg) in 15.3 mpg.

Thompson’s teams have also made five trips to the NBA Playoffs, including four consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals from 2015-18. In postseason play, he has played in 83 playoff games (70 starts) and posted 7.8 ppg (.566 from the field) and 8.6 rpg (3.8 orpg) in 29.6 mpg.

McKinnie saw action in 17 games (three starts) with Chicago, and averaged 3.5 ppg and 1.9 rpg in 12.1 mpg.

Suns guard Chris Paul injured, out at least 6-8 weeks

The Phoenix Suns are having the best season of any team in the league, but a big hit of bad news came out today. Via the Arizona Republic:

Chris Paul’s right thumb is going to keep him out most of the remaining season.

The Suns gave an official release that Paul has suffered a right thumb avulsion fracture in Wednesdays’ game against Houston and will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks.

The NBA regular season ends April 10 against Sacramento.

The Suns are 48-10, placing them a full 6.5 games ahead of the 42-17 Warriors in both the Western conference and overall league standings.

Paul this season is averaging 14.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.7 assists (best in the league) and 1.9 steals (tied for 4th best in the league) per game.

Lakers must rally just to make the 2022 NBA playoffs

LeBron James and the Lakers are in a tough spot these days. The squad faces an uphill battle in their quest just to make the playoffs. Via the Los Angeles Times:

The Lakers will be without Anthony Davis for at least the next four weeks, their place in the Western Conference standings on shaky ground. They have a 2 1/2-game lead on Portland, the current 10th-place team. They’re 4 1/2 games ahead of San Antonio and New Orleans, who are chasing the final play-in spot.

If there’s a reason to believe in the Lakers’ chances to make the playoffs, it’s been James, who is in one of the best offensive grooves of the season. He’s scored at least 25 points in 23 straight games, a stretch during which he’s averaging 31.7 points.

Lakers’ Anthony Davis out with foot sprain

Once again, Anthony Davis is injured. Via ESPN.com:

Anthony Davis will be out at least four weeks after an MRI showed that the Los Angeles Lakers star has a mid-foot sprain, the team announced Thursday.

Davis suffered the injury in the team’s 106-101 win against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

He underwent X-rays that night at Crypto.com Arena that revealed no fracture, according to the team, but an MRI Thursday revealed the sprain.

The Lakers said team doctors will reevaluate the star big man in four weeks.

The Lakers are just 27-31 this season, which is the 9th best record in the Western conference. They haven’t looked like a championship contender at all this season, and with the way things are going will have to hustle and step things up just to make the playoffs. A task made even more difficult with this Davis injury.

Milwaukee Bucks sign forward DeAndre’ Bembry

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed forward DeAndre’ Bembry.

A 6-5, 210-pound forward, Bembry appeared in 48 games (20 starts) with the Brooklyn Nets this season before being waived on Feb. 10.

Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Bembry was waived by the Nets on Thursday in order to accommodate their acquisition of Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond from Philadelphia. ”

With the Nets, Bembry averaged 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steal in 19.8 minutes per game while shooting a career-high 56.8% from the field and a career-best 41.7% from three.

In his sixth season in the NBA, Bembry was originally selected out of Saint Joseph’s with the 21st overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He went on to play in 189 games with the Hawks over four seasons before spending last season with the Raptors. In his career, Bembry holds averages of 6.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal across 288 games (55 starts) with the Hawks, Raptors and Nets.

Milwaukee’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Trail Blazers guard Dennis Smith Jr. out with elbow injury

Portland Trail Blazers guard Dennis Smith Jr. has been diagnosed with a high-grade partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, per the results of an MRI.

The injury occurred in practice on Friday, February 11.

Smith will be reevaluated in three to four weeks.

In 37 games (four starts) this season, Smith has averaged 5.6 points (41.8% FG, 22.2% 3-PT, 65.6% FT), 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.22 steals.

Utah Jazz sign forward Xavier Sneed to two-way contract

The Utah Jazz have signed forward Xavier Sneed to a two-way contract.

Sneed (6-5, 215, Kansas State) appeared in two games with the Memphis Grizzlies this season and also played in 18 games (all starts) with the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League, averaging 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals in 27.2 minutes per contest.

The St. Louis, Mo., native played in 13 games (10 starts) with the Swarm in 2020-21 and averaged 8.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 steals. He has additional professional playing experience in Canada where he played for the Niagara River Lions of the CEBL in 2020-21, averaging 17.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals.

Collegiately, Sneed played four seasons at Kansas State (2016-20), where he averaged 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 137 career games (104 starts).

Timberwolves sign guard Patrick Beverley to contract extension

The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed guard Patrick Beverley to a contract extension.

Per the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Beverley and the team agreed to a one-year extension Monday worth $13 million, his agent Kevin Bradbury confirmed. Beverley, 33, came to the Wolves in the final year of his current deal in a trade from Memphis over the summer. Since Beverley joined, his teammates and coaches have credited him with enhancing the culture on defense while providing leadership in the locker room.”

Beverley, 33, is enjoying a career year in 2021-22, his 10th in the NBA, averaging 9.2 points, his most since 2017-18 (12.2), 4.4 rebounds, a career-high 4.9 assists, a career-best 1.0 blocks and 1.2 steals in 39 games (35 starts). Originally acquired by the Wolves from the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade on Aug. 25, 2021, he ranks sixth in the NBA in charges drawn this season (15).

He scored a season-high 20 points, connecting on a season-high 5-of-9 from beyond the arc during Minnesota’s 98-90 win on Jan. 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, his 12th career game with five or more three-pointers and his 10th career game registering 20+ points. Beverley has notched two double-doubles this season including tallying his fourth career point/assist double-double, with 11 points and a career-high-tying 12 assists in the Wolves’ 122-104 victory over the LA Clippers on Jan. 3.

For his career, the 6-1 guard has appeared in 507 regular season games (419 starts) with the Houston Rockets, Clippers and Timberwolves, averaging 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Beverley has seen action in 59 career playoff games (48 starts), including 17 games (seven starts) in last season’s playoffs and has averaged 7.9 points on 41.2% shooting, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

The Chicago native is a three-time NBA All-Defensive team selection, including being named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2016-17, his final season with the Rockets. Originally drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 42nd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Beverley spent three seasons overseas in Greece, Russia and Ukraine. He signed as a free agent with the Rockets ahead of the 2013 season and was traded to the Clippers on June 28, 2017.